CD reviews: Belly up to the bar with Colt Ford

Aug. 10, 2012

Colt Ford’s new album “Declaration of Independence” proves his breakthrough success doesn’t mean he’ll start playing by contemporary country music’s rules. The title not only emphasizes that he records for an independent label, it underscores he has the freedom to speak his mind in ways many corporate-groomed country stars wont.

Ford isn’t the first to blend country with rap and hard rock, a reflection of what can be found on the iPods of young, rural Americans these days. But Ford flaunts this polyglot style more aggressively, more seamlessly and more entertainingly than others.

His obsessive references to guns, mama, moonshine, Republicans and small towns support how often he calls himself a redneck. To his credit, in songs such as “Room at the Bar,” Ford reiterates he embraces all cultures, races, ages and body sizes. It’s a point he brings home by including Wanya Morris (Boys II Men), Darius Rucker and Lamar Williams Jr. among his duet partners (others are Jason Aldean, Laura Bell Bundy and Jake Owen).

In doing so, Ford not only illustrates country can continue to draw on other contemporary styles, he also shows modern-era rednecks can mix with the rest of the world, too.

• Download: “All In” kicks off with a fiddle , allowing Ford to rap to a more traditional country arrangement in a duet with Kix Brooks that colorfully describes the ingredients for a memorable backcountry party.

— Michael McCall, for the

Associated Press

SIXPENCE NONE THE RICHER

“Lost in Transition”

Tyger Jim Records

Matt Slocum, guitarist of Sixpence None the Richer, says the group has fully changed since they broke up in 2004 and reunited three years after. But that doesn’t reveal itself as a metamorphosis in the songs on “Lost in Transition.”

After the split, Sixpence released an EP and a Christmas album, but its returns with its first full-length album, delivering a familiar sound while not breaking into new territory.

The album opener, “My Dear Machine,” is a decent track, with some fine and fuzzy guitar work highlighted by lead singer Leigh Nash’s smooth and strong voice.

After this somewhat strong start, the Nashville, Tenn.-based band runs into an inevitable truth for most ’90s-era bands looking for a renaissance. Hits are hard. Yesteryear radio staples like “Kiss Me” and “There She Goes” are tough to replicate. Tracks like “Failure” and “Give It Back” are passable, but are ultimately wordy misfires that say nothing of the transformative time that is allegedly the underpinning of this album.

• Download: Sixpence does well to slow things down on “Safety Line,” the most heartfelt song on the album.